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What a Glorious Time to be a Fight Fan!

BySergio Martinez
As I was sitting here on my couch watching “Father of the Bride” on HBO, just to kill the time before the Barrera vs. Fana show starts, I got to thinking about an e-mail I received from a SaddoBoxing.com reader named Mark. Damn! We as fans are

privileged to have so many great fighters that are active now and are willing to fight each other. Just thinking about the fact that we are witnessing the careers and fights of Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya, Kostya Tszyu, Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Martin Castillo, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, the Marquez brothers (Juan Manuel and Rafael), Arturo Gatti, etc, (You get the picture). Knowing that makes me feel excited about being around to cover these guys and help write about there histories in the making. Come on! How many potential fights of the Millennium have we already witnessed in the past five years? There’s the Barrera vs. Morales trilogy, Gatti vs. Ward trilogy, Morales vs. Pacquiao, Mayorga vs. Trinidad,Vargas vs. Trinidad, De La Hoya vs. Vargas, De La Hoya vs. Quartey, Balbi vs. Dorin I, Lewis vs. Klitschko, Marquez vs. Pacquiao, Ayala vs. Tapia I and II, Ayala vs. Bones Adams I, Brodie vs. Chi, Chaves vs. Morales, Morales vs. Chi, and countless other hellacious scrapes that were never seen on television. Also, within the next ninety days, we have a whole mess of great fights headed our way. Fights like Margarito vs. Cintron, Diaz vs. Elder, Castillo vs. Corrales, Hernandez vs. Chavez, Elder vs. Diaz, Gatti vs. Mayweather and Hatton vs. Tszyu. That doesn’t include the rest of the year, that’s just within the next three months. So I say again, DAMN! Yes my fellow boxing fanatics, it is a glorious time to be a boxing fan.

Just for the hell of it, every one of us fight fans loves to play with the mythical “Pound- for-Pound” list. Here is my two cents on the top-ten fighters of the sport. Just to let you guys know, I based my decisions on what the fighters have accomplished over the past five years. Consistency, and quality of opposition weigh heavily in my book. Just because someone beats one top fighter, ala Vernon Forrest, does not make him a pound- for-pound guy in my book. Here are my ten:

1. Bernardo Hopkins- (twenty defenses in ten years doesn’t just happen).
2. Erik Morales- (Remember consistency and quality of opposition).
3. Marco Antonio Barrera- (Same applies).
4. Manny Pacquiao- (has beaten a lot of top guys in past three years).
5. Jose Luis Castillo- (don’t believe me, check boxrec.com for opponent info).
6. Kostya Tszyu- (Has beaten most of the top guys in a very deep division).
7. Floyd Mayweather- (Got the talent, but been fighting lower opposition).
8. Juan Manuel Marquez- (may have a boring style, but has beaten quality).
9. Winky Wright- (beaten some solid contenders).
10. Antonio Tarver- (beat a list of solid fighters before he knocked out Jones).

That’s just my humble opinion. If anyone disagrees with me, just e-mail your list. Thanks and enjoy the fights this evening.

Sergio Martinez can be reached at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com